iPad Mini Retina Battery Charge Time

Answer to how long does it take to charge the battery on iPad mini retina display.  I finally got my iPad Mini Retina with 32GB storage today.  I got mine 1 day before Apple officially mailed them out to customers who ordered from the Apple website.  Here are the details of the battery charge times of the iPad Mini Retina display, from 0% charge to a full 100% battery charge.

Note that these times below are the first charge.  In my experience, the first charge is a good indicator of future charges.  When I first switched on the new iPad mini retina it was at 87%.  I then used it through the day and drained the battery to 2%.  The retina iPad mini does not turn off at 4% charge like previous iPads.

I do not think it makes a difference to battery quality or charge times but for your information this is a 32GB iPad mini retina from Batch 1 retail tier production landed.  It is not the Batch 2 mini retina, which were UPS delivered from China to Apple customers ordering through the Apple website from the first week.  Some people on forums say those mini retinas have worse screen quality and are poorer quality overall.  I have no idea.

Here are the results of the iPad mini retina battery charge tests.  Yes I stayed awake to record these battery charge times.

• iPad mini retina test start at 2% battery charge at 11.44pm.
• 13% 12.04am
• 20% 12.17am
• 28% 12.31am.
• 36% 12.46am
• 43% battery charge at 12.59am.
• 57% charge at 13.26am
• 61% at 13.34am.
• 69% at 13.49am
• 80% at 14.09am.
• 89% at 14.30am
• 94% at 14.46am
• 95% at 14.52am.
• 97% at 15.07am.
• 97% at 15.13am.  Yes this is correct, a double 97%.  It is possible the iPad mini is recalibrating the battery pack, see below for details.
• 100% at 15.18am and the iPad mini battery test is complete.

Total ipad mini retina battery charge time is 3 hours and 15 minutes.

There are three important points I think are worth discussing here.  The total time taken, the 80% charge drop and the double 97%.

The total time to charge the iPad mini of 3 hours 15 minutes is faster than the time it takes to charge an ipad 3.  This is great news, and means you can charge the mini during the day, at work or while doing other activities.  With the iPad 3 the best strategy, as recommended by Steve Jobs, was to charge the ipad overnight.

Regarding the 80% charge point.  Previous ipad models, like the iPad 3, have a cut off at 80% battery capacity where the charge cycle would charge from charging normal to trickle charge, which takes longer.  Here we see the 80%+ period of battery charging takes 30% of the charge time (just over 1 hour).  However, my guess is the trickle charge on the ipad mini retina is later than the previous ipad models.  Maybe around 90-95% battery charge before it begins trickle.  This is great for charging and means you get a larger battery charge, faster.

The double 97% is not because I was tired.  Shock.  I double and triple checked the battery percentage to make sure I was not seeing things.  Maybe this double comes from the battery self calibrating because it was a first charge.  I have no idea.  When I do the second ipad mini battery charge tomorrow I will see if the issue reoccurs.

That’s the end of the battery charge times analysis for the iPad mini retina.  Hope it proves useful if you were looking for this information online.  You can leave a comment saying thanks if you have a few second free.